TesseracT – War of Being (Album Review)

Posted on September 11, 2023 by roddy666

TesseracT – War Of Being
Released: September 15th, 2023

Lineup:

Daniel Tompkins // Vocals
Amos Williams // Bass
Jay Postones // Drums
Acle Kahney // Guitars
James Monteith // Guitars

Online:

Rewind to the late 2000s/early 2010s. Two bands, on either side of the Atlantic, were the true spearheads, the veritable vanguards, of the so-called ‘djent’ movement that took the metal world by storm for several years. Two illustrious modern metal acts: America’s Periphery and the UK’s TesseracT.

Fast forward to 2023, both bands and the movement they spawned (with due respect given to Meshuggah of course, who originated the sound), are still going strong (much to the chagrin of whiny metal purists). Both are still releasing stellar-quality music and touring the globe, putting on scintillating live shows for enraptured audiences the world over.

TesseracT does not miss. Ever. This is their fifth album, on top of the classic Concealing Fate EP of 2010, and they’ve barely put out a down song, nary even a down moment, let alone a substandard album. Part of this may come from the fact that they rarely if ever stray too far from their signature sound.

And said signature sound is choc-full of expansive and imaginative songwriting and arranging, first-rate production and world-class musicianship anyway, so why would they?

One way in which War of Being provides a contrast to their previous release, is that 2018’s Sonder was TesseracT in very streamlined form – eight tracks and just 36 minutes of music. Nothing wrong with that whatsoever. That album got in, made an extraordinarily strong statement, and got TF out again. This time however, the band has let their creativity flow, let it all hang out, expanding things so that the running time of this record reaches the hour mark, including two tracks over nine minutes.

This album may stretch out to the hour mark, but once again there is no superfluous content here whatsoever – no filler tracks, no wasted notes, just wall-to-wall quality, just melodic progressive modern metal of the most exhilarating kind imaginable. Check out both the epic-length tracks in the fabulous closer ‘Sacrifice’ and the mighty title track, for proof. ‘Sirens’ is one of the most beautiful songs they’ve written in their entire career and ‘Burden’ is straight-up one of the best songs they’ve ever written (the jammy instrumental outro is truly something to behold, it could have gone on for another five minutes or more as far as I’m concerned).

War of Being is an album that starts incredibly strongly and only gets better and better as it goes along. In fact, it’s one of those records that is more than just a band’s new album, it’s an experience, a mind-expanding journey into breathtaking heavy music soundscapes.

One thing that’s always struck me about the vocals of frontman Daniel Tompkins is just how beautifully and naturally his voice suits both the loud howling parts and the washy ambient moments, often flicking effortlessly between the two from one moment to the next. His voice is delicate and forceful in equal measures, and nowhere is that more vividly displayed than right here on War of Being. He is in passionate and highly accomplished form here. As are the rest of the band members.

TesseracT are one of those acts in which every position is occupied by one of the best in the world at what they do.

They’re also one of those bands where each and every album is a ‘tentpole’ moment, every album is an event, a moment in time where you sit up and take notice. War of Being will be vying with records from bands like Voyager, Humanity’s Last Breath and Sleep Token for album of the year status in 2023, no question.

Modern bands are making the choice joyously difficult for this writer once again.